Pushing Too Hard?

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Captcurt

Captcurt

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One of my friends has booked a Texas hog hunt after Christmas for he and his young boy aged 11. He bought a compact Ruger in 300 Blackout with a 2-7X Leupold for JR and called me over to help sight it in. It took 5 shots to get it in the bull and then we turned JR loose with it. Even with the gun in a leadsled the kid was scared to squeeze the trigger. I watched for 30 minutes while his dad tried to get him to shoot and could see the little fellows arms shaking from fear. Am I wrong to think that the kid is not ready for a hunt? I am sure that he would miss or wound if he got a shot. What say ye?
 
Sounds like the kid is not ready. The dad might be better off to get JR a good crossbow instead of forcing the kid to shoot a gun where he has developed a fear of recoil.
 
Pull your friend aside and let them know. But don't cancel the hunt for the kid. There are lots of kids that pick up on parent hobbies to spend more time with them. Bring the kid along but don't have the pressure there to shoot. The fear of shooting goes away when the pressure isn't there.
 
If shooting terrifies the kid, he is not going to enjoy it, and the hunting trip is not going to be a fun, bonding experience.

Shooters progress at their own rate. I had one friend that graduated from 22LR, to 22WMR, to 38, to 357, to 45 in an hour and a half. At the end of that, my friend was thrilled about having mastery of something that had previously been a source of fear. I don't think that most beginners make that trip that quickly. Give the kid time.
 
I’d say the dad ought to get some common sense. The son was faced with two challenges, and one weighed heavy on the other. Learning to shoot a rifle can be intimidating for a uninitiated youngster. Add the anxiety of knowing your going to have to go on a hog hunt just tripled the anxiety. I learned too shoot at age 7 with a 22 rifle plinking cans and. bottles. No pressure because I was not going to go hunting thereafter. My experience was fun, not pressure. After a few months of that I went small game hunting. I could shoot properly and bunnies were not as intimidating as hogs. That experience was courtesy of an uncle. My dad knew.nothing about guns or hunting. My uncle knew that the best way to teach marksmanship was to make it fun, and he did thst. When it came to hunting he would never have taken me on deer hunt to start. He knew it was bast to start small. That overbearing dad might think the best way to teach a kid to swim is to throw hin into the pool. All that does is terrify the kid. Stupid bothers me.
 
I'll second the question of what the child's shooting experience has been and add a question about what hearing protection was used. Experience with other firearms is a good indicator and plugs and muffs will go a long way to taking some of the flinch out of shooting.
 
Sounds like they both could use some coaching. First would be figuring out if the kid legitimately wants to do this, if he's going along because his dad wants it, or if he's being made to do it. If it's either of the last 2, dad is the one needing the most help.

If the kid really wants to hunt and shoot, the hard part is done.
 
I shaked. Shaked on the box at swim meets. Shaked at kickoff at soccer games.

For years I was afraid, I wouldn't look at the pool drain as I passed over it. No logical reason. (Or maybe there was, since years later kids had their guts ripped out by similar drains)

Give the kid a break. Big audience behind him. Some positive reinforcement and letting him know the rifle won't hurt him. And some time.
 
Zerodefect said:
I shaked. Shaked on the box at swim meets. Shaked at kickoff at soccer games.

For years I was afraid, I wouldn't look at the pool drain as I passed over it. No logical reason. (Or maybe there was, since years later kids had their guts ripped out by similar drains)

Give the kid a break. Big audience behind him. Some positive reinforcement and letting him know the rifle won't hurt him. And some time.
Click to expand...

Yep, I got butterflies in the stomach before competing, but almost never before practice.

I’m with the rest of y’all. The dad needs to step back and rethink this. My dad ruined fishing for me as a kid to the point I couldn’t care less if I ever fished again. And fishing rods aren’t loud and don’t have shoulder thumping recoil.
 
Ill be the odd ball here.
Depends on the kid. Some kids are overly cautious. My daughter is a very study child. athletic and can do most anything. She absolutely will not try anything though. Ive had to force her to do everything that she now loves. Shooting wasn't one but riding an ATV. Driving a Car, Then driving a stick, riding a roller coaster, hell eating Japanese food was a big fuss. Lol. Now it's her favorite thing. She absolutely will not try things. I tell her try it and if she hates it then never try again. But try it. She loves playing basketball. Me and my friends rented a gym and played ball for years. I had to force her to play ONE time. She has finally (at 12) realized that if I tell her she can do it, she is safe and can try at least.

The roller coaster was at a huge theme park. I despise roller coasters myself. I panic on roller coasters with Scooby-Doo on them. The log flume makes my heart skip. (I also raced sportbikes and cars, 200+ doesn't scare me on a track at all. On quads and dirt bikes I was the idiot you see jumping cars and such.... 3 mph on a rollercoaster I have no control of...full on panic. Heart stops, I sweat.... no good.). I worked on getting her to ride a kiddie coaster (with me) for half the trip. Once she did though, she rode everything. Still loves it.

We have a great relationship too. I'm closer to her than my other two. We have most everything in Common. So I believe it depends on the kid. A good parent knows when to push and when not. Sometimes they don't think they are strong enough or ready. Sometimes they think they will let you down and are terrified of that

My other two have very little fear or caution. Even if they want to do things I have to decide of they are ready, because according to them....they are ready.

The father in the story may be a huge A-hole and making a mistake. But he may know that if the kid shot the gun (in a lead sled, not like the morons handing a 95lb woman who has never shot a gun a 338-378) that he would be confident and be ok with it.
 
crestoncowboy said:
Ill be the odd ball here.
Depends on the kid. Some kids are overly cautious. My daughter is a very study child. athletic and can do most anything. She absolutely will not try anything though. Ive had to force her to do everything that she now loves. Shooting wasn't one but riding an ATV. Driving a Car, Then driving a stick, riding a roller coaster, hell eating Japanese food was a big fuss. Lol. Now it's her favorite thing. She absolutely will not try things. I tell her try it and if she hates it then never try again. But try it. She loves playing basketball. Me and my friends rented a gym and played ball for years. I had to force her to play ONE time. She has finally (at 12) realized that if I tell her she can do it, she is safe and can try at least.

The roller coaster was at a huge theme park. I despise roller coasters myself. I panic on roller coasters with Scooby-Doo on them. The log flume makes my heart skip. (I also raced sportbikes and cars, 200+ doesn't scare me on a track at all. On quads and dirt bikes I was the idiot you see jumping cars and such.... 3 mph on a rollercoaster I have no control of...full on panic. Heart stops, I sweat.... no good.). I worked on getting her to ride a kiddie coaster (with me) for half the trip. Once she did though, she rode everything. Still loves it.

We have a great relationship too. I'm closer to her than my other two. We have most everything in Common. So I believe it depends on the kid. A good parent knows when to push and when not. Sometimes they don't think they are strong enough or ready. Sometimes they think they will let you down and are terrified of that

My other two have very little fear or caution. Even if they want to do things I have to decide of they are ready, because according to them....they are ready.

The father in the story may be a huge A-hole and making a mistake. But he may know that if the kid shot the gun (in a lead sled, not like the morons handing a 95lb woman who has never shot a gun a 338-378) that he would be confident and be ok with it.
Click to expand...

The lead sled doesn’t cancel out the bang. Some people hate the bang. That’s why my wife hates shooting, it’s too loud at the range for her, and that’s with good hearing protection.
 
Parents need to promote the child's interests. If they happen to be the same great if not that is just the way it is.

What does the wife, if there is one, say? She should have the inside scoop. It seems obvious but you never know.
 
chicharrones said:
The lead sled doesn’t cancel out the bang. Some people hate the bang. That’s why my wife hates shooting, it’s too loud at the range for her, and that’s with good hearing protection.
Click to expand...

I'm hearing tested thoroughly at work yearly. Have been for 20 years since I was 20. My hearing has been bad the entire time in the higher ranges. And there are some here that are just like me. No idea why. If I were tested today and had never been tested, they would blame guns and loud engines. Lol. Guaranteed. But it was bad before I had those. But I wear plugs doing anything. Weedeating, sawing, working on loud engines I wear muffs. My hearing has been the same for that entire 20 years though. We get yearly training on plug use and have an almost unlimited selection of them. I tend to wear the 32nrr versions. But the 30s are a bit more comfortable. The kids use this. Properly worn they are great. Unrolled and barely stuck in the ear they are useless or next to it . I wear muffs over those but the muffs just don't do as well IME.

My boy had all manner of ear issues until he was around 3. Specialist after Specialist. Tubes. Scans etc etc. He is fine now but he covers his ears at any loud noise. Even loud music or the movie theater. He don't mind shooting but we use plugs and muffs both.
 
My son urged my grandson to shoot a 20 gauge too soon. If the kid is shaking with fear or anxiety, dad should back off. Good things will happen when the time is right.
 
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